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Moments of heroism emerge from Paris in aftermath of attacks

A pregnant woman pulled from a window ledge and four other stories of heroes during the violence in Paris.

This combination photo shows spectators fleeing the Bataclan concert hall from the backdoor and a pregnant woman being rescued by a stranger as she hung from a window ledge. (DANIEL PSENNY / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

It was a quiet moment of heroism almost lost to a cacophony of horror.

A pregnant woman who hung out a window ledge outside the besieged Bataclan nightclub in Paris has finally been reunited with the stranger who saved her and her baby’s life.

Her rescue was caught on video and has become an indelible image of the chaos of the Paris attacks, which claimed 129 lives. Here is their story, and the stories of other heroes of the deadly Paris attacks.

1. Sebastien Besatti

Hanging by a window ledge, a pregnant French woman was saved by the hand of a stranger.

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“She was begging people down below if they would catch her if she jumped. But it was chaos down there . . . I held on for five minutes and then the pregnant woman, who was exhausted, begged me to help her get back inside. That's what I did,” her saviour, Sebastien Besatti, told French news site La Provence.

The two have reunited after an extensive online search, La Provence reports. Besatti told the outlet how he rescued her only to find himself at the wrong end of a Kalashnikov moments later.

“I do not know where she went afterwards, I returned to my hiding place which was not good. Five minutes later, I felt the barrel of a Kalashnikov against my leg and a terrorist said to me: ‘Get down from there! Come and lay yourself down!’” he told La Province.

Both the woman and Besatti were taken hostage by the terrorists, he said, but freed when police stormed the nightclub and the attackers killed themselves by detonating their explosive vests.

2. Ludovic Boumbas

All she can do to say thank you is say his name: Ludo, Ludo, Ludo.

Chloe Clement survived the deadly shooting at La Belle Equipe café because her friend Ludovic “Ludo” Boumbas took a bullet for her, friends and family said.

Clement and Boumbas were both at the café to celebrate a friend’s 35th birthday when gunmen drew fire and started shooting at diners.

Bounbas dove in front of Clement, taking the bullet that was meant for her.

Clement was still shot but is in hospital recovering.

“She felt guilty because Ludovic died for her. She just kept repeating his name again and again,” her friend Virgile Grunberg told the Daily Mail.

3. An unknown security guard

A security guard at France’s national soccer stadium saved thousands of lives by catching the suicide bomber before he entered the building.

A spokesman for the security team and French police told the Wall Street Journal that at least one of the bombers had a ticket to attend the match. He discovered the explosive vest while conducting a routine frisk.

Caught, the bomber backed up and detonated his own vest, killing himself but no others. Soon, other suicide bombersoutside the stadium did the same, setting off a ripple of firecracker-like blasts that were heard by those inside.

Where the Paris attacks happened

4. Michael O'Connor

When British national Michael O'Connor saw armed gunmen opening fire at the Bataclan, his first instinct was to run. Grabbing his girlfriend, he tried to pull her to a fire exit, he told the BBC.

Stuck, he dropped to the ground and lay on top of his girlfriend to protect her from stray bullets and trampling feet.

“It was a bit of a crush, we couldn’t get out,” he said.

Once, they tried to make a dash to the exit while the gunman reloaded, but had to hit the ground again when the shooting began again.

“At that point I said if we move, we’re going to be killed,” he said. “That was one of the most evil parts, when you could hear somebody calculatingly reloading their gun.”

Scattered around him lay the wounded and dead.

“I just told my girlfriend that I loved her. What else can you do in that situation? I expected to die. My girlfriend, she was so brave though, she kept on telling me . . . ‘we’re not going to die here,’” he said.

Both survived by lying on the floor for more than an hour until the police stormed the building.

5. Patrick Pelloux

It was not the first time Dr. Patrick Pelloux had witnessed a terrorist attack. The Charlie Hebdo columnist and emergency room doctor was one of the first on the scene when terrorists stormed the satirical magazine’s offices and killed 12 of his colleagues.

After the most recent Paris attacks in the 11th arrondissement, Pelloux also tended to the victims at a local ER.

“It’s war carnage,” he tweeted, describing the suffering of the wounded.

“Hope Springs because the best doctors are here caring [for the victims]. Our thoughts are with their families.”

Since the fateful night, Pelloux has called on his fellow citizens to band together.

“Have no fear! They want us to be the walking dead,” he tweeted.

Correction – November 17, 2015: This article was edited from a previous version that incorrectly identified the security guard who stopped the bomber from entering the national soccer stadium as Zouheir. In fact, his identity is still unknown.

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